Nature NSW Summer 2025

Gary Dunnett, CEO NPA NSW

This edition of Nature NSW arrives in the wake of a landmark moment: the NSW Premier’s announcement that the Government will adopt NPA’s full proposal for the Great Koala National Park (GKNP), and end native forest logging in the area immediately. It’s the culmination of more than a decade of campaigning, scientific work, community action and alliance-building with regional partners, including nature-based tourism operators. 

It’s been a long and often uphill journey. We all remember the “Koala wars,” when even asking how to prevent the extinction of koalas became one of the most divisive questions in Parliament. Thankfully, reason has prevailed, and the GKNP now stands as a cornerstone for the future of koalas in NSW. 

Across NPA, this once-in-a-generation conservation victory has sparked something vital: hope. Hope that the GKNP will be realised in its best possible form; confidence that our next generation of park proposals, for forests, marine ecosystems, inland wetlands and beyond, can achieve the same success. 

That sense of renewal inevitably leads to the question: what next? The answer is clear, ending all native forest logging, and advancing our three current projects: the Jervis Bay additions, Pilliga additions, and the Great Southern Forest National Park proposal. 

The Great Southern Forest project is the largest and most ambitious by far. Stretching along the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range from Jervis Bay to the Victorian border, it covers more than a million hectares, including about 400,000 hectares of State Forests, many still subject to destructive industrial logging and woodchipping. 

While calls to protect these forests date back decades, the campaign has gathered real momentum over the past year. Project Officer Kate Carroll has been working closely with NPA’s Milton, Eurobodalla and Far South Coast branches on a major report documenting the outstanding ecological values of the southern forests and building the scientific case for their protection. That technical assessment is now nearing completion, thanks in large part to members who have spent countless hours in the field filling critical survey gaps for threatened flora and fauna. 

One lesson from the GKNP is clear: high-quality, science-based proposals are essential, but community and political support are what turn those proposals into reality. And building that support starts with helping people see, and feel, that there is something worth protecting. That can be a challenge in tall, dense forests whose most iconic inhabitants only emerge after dark. 

A few weeks ago, I was reminded of just how powerful that connection can be. 

Far South Coast Branch President and nocturnal photographer David Gallan, whose award-winning film Understorey documents past campaigns to protect these forests, led us into Tallaganda State Forest to film Greater Gliders. His work captures what few people ever witness: quolls padding through a campsite or gliders sweeping silently through the night. Through his imagery, people can connect emotionally with forests and wildlife they might never otherwise experience. 

That night, Dave predicted exactly where a Greater Glider would emerge, groom, launch and land. Sure enough, a gloriously fluffy glider followed the script perfectly. Using invisible infrared light to avoid disturbing natural behaviour, Dave captured stunning footage of the world’s largest gliding mammal in full flight. For four of us from NPA, it was a breathtaking privilege. 

Later, under gusty winds and a rising moon, two more Greater Gliders appeared near our camp, silhouetted against the moon as they moved through the treetops. Photographing them was a challenge, but the result unforgettable. 

The next morning brought a different kind of magic: the harsh, creaking calls of Gang-gang Cockatoos cutting through the dawn chorus. The scarlet crowns of the males glowed in the morning sun as they inspected hollows near camp, offering more opportunities for filming. Familiar yet vulnerable, Gang-gangs are now listed as threatened in NSW, a reminder of how precarious even well-known species have become. 

Greater Gliders by night, Gang-gangs by day, each emblematic of the southern forests’ fragility and richness. Like the koalas of the GKNP, these “gee gees of the canopy” can become the emotional heart of the Great Southern Forest campaign. Helping communities connect with these species, and through them, with the forests they call home, will be central to the park’s success. Greater Glider. Gary DunnettTwo Greater Gliders! Gary DunnettMale Gang-gang Cockatoo. Gary Dunnett

 

In this edition